BIRDS and TREES and the last of our time in KAUAI

There are so many different kinds of plants, bushes and trees on Kauai, -- that is, quite different from the ones we mostly see on the mainland. 

 Since it is almost Christmas, I had to include this Poinsetta shrub  in full bloom.

You have to look a little more closely at this next photo, as there are two trees here and you have to look hard to separate them.  As beautiful as the palm tree is here I really wanted a photo of the one in the front, with all the bare branches.  Why take a photo of a tree with bare branches you may wonder.  Well because it is actually a plumeria tree -- the one that has the beautifully perfumed flowers which are used in the typical Hawaian leis. If you look closely you can see some blooms still left on the ends of the branches.  This is the time of the year when the plumeria  loses its leaves.  There are not many trees in Kauai that lose their leaves and it seems that sometimes the plumeria blooms outlast the leaves, because we saw quite a few trees that looked like this.

Finding the unusual trees as we drove around was not difficult; finding a place to pull over while I took the photographs was a whole different matter!  Fortunately my husband is very patient when I need photos for my blog. I'm not so sure  the other drivers on the road were so patient.

I thought this tree/shrub was fascinating. Very decorative with all its roots(?) or are they branches? Roots, I think.

These look like giant horse tails, similar to a small plant that grows wild in England. These were up at the river ford on Kauai.  I love all the different textures and shades of the many tropical plants.

This photograph reminds me of an old song that was sung when I was growing up in England.  I'm sure all of you who are in England know what I'm referring to, and I believe it was pretty well known over here too, because Danny Kay made a recording of it.  It was written by Freddie Heatherton: 

"I've got a luverly  bunch of coconuts!

Here they are all standing in a row.

Big ones, small ones, some as big as your 'ead

You give 'em a twist, a flick of yer wrist,

Is what the showman said."

The song, of course, refers to the traditional coconut shy or 'toss' at the English fun fairs.  (Info thanks to Wikipedia).  Throw them if you like, but don't stand under a coconut tree (see the above photo) you can get hurt pretty badly if you do. In fact one of our island friends in Micronesia was hit by one and had many visits to the hospital because of it.

I had to take another shot for a close-up of this.  I have never seen so many coconuts on one tree!

A fairly common bird on Kauai is the  brightly colored red-headed cardinal. We didn't seem to see as many of them this year, so hopefully their numbers are not declining. 

This bird was definitely more abundant than other years.  It is the beautiful Golden Plover.  I had to enhance this photo a little so that you can really see the 'golden' part.  They were everywhere around our condo area. Shy and quick on their feet, (running fast rather than flying) they were not easy to photograph.  In fact, to give credit where credit is due, my husband took this photo -- and the next one too, which I will explain....

...yes, let me explain.  This is NOT a sunset photo but a SUNRISE.  If you know me at all, or read my blog regularly, you will know I do NOT take sunrise photos! I am definitely not a morning person.  Thank goodness I am now retired! And thank goodness my husband is a morning person.

Well that's it for Kauai.  Now just a memory away.  This week is going to be a busy one as I catch up with all my Christmas preparations.  I know, I'm late, but that's how I like it.

See you on ABC Wednesday.